For as long as I can remember, Santa Claus has been an active participant in my family’s Christmas tradition. My parents were really big on the magic of the season, and they went to elaborate lengths to make the holiday special for my two sisters and me. This included a personal visit from the big man himself.
Each year after the early children’s Christmas Eve … [Read more...]

Ten days past my due date and after a 23-hour labor that ended in an emergency C-section under general anesthesia, I met a boy.
Our first meeting wasn’t anything like I had planned. I woke up in the recovery room and saw my husband at the foot of my bed holding a huge bundle of blankets. Joe was all smiles as he brought our new baby close to my face. Since I needed to … [Read more...]

Last Thursday I sat in an all-purpose room full of other teary-eyed parents and watched my last baby move up from elementary school to the new frontier of middle school. My time as a mom to a kid in elementary school is officially over.
I will never again go to a Halloween parade, read a story for “secret reader” day, or have to run out to Target at 8:00 pm so I can … [Read more...]

The best parenting lesson I ever got came from my dad, long before I became a wife to one and a mom to three. In fact I was only five.
Back then one of my favorite things to do was to go to Eisenhower Park with my family. No visit was complete until we visited the pigs at the park’s small petting zoo.
Whenever my two younger sisters or I dared to get a little out of line, … [Read more...]

In my over four years of writing this blog, I am frequently complimented on how open and honest I am in my writing. Though I appreciate this feedback, I must confess that it’s not true.
I have been very reluctant to share one aspect of my life with you, this would be my taste in music.
According to my husband, three kids, two sisters, various friends, relatives and the … [Read more...]